Coronavirus shuts Kansas City restaurants, leaving staff unemployed, yearning for work
Before the coronavirus put its vice grip on Kansas City, Black Dog Coffeehouse needed six baristas at a time to handle the crowds.
As Jordan Fowler brewed up the lattes and cappuccinos, his paycheck and tips covered his groceries and gas and helped pay his mother’s bills.
Now, Fowler, 26, and his co-workers across Black Dog, the affiliated Ibis Bakery and sister coffee shops Messenger and Filling Station are out of work. He could look for another job, but he’s worried about contracting the virus and spreading it to her or his father. They all have autoimmune disorders.
“Do I go out and get a job at a grocery store, which I know will be hiring, and then potentially come back and spread it to them?” said Fowler, who is finishing his semester at the University of Missouri-Kansas City online. “I don’t want to rely on unemployment, but I also don’t want to be spreading this to the people in my family who do have diseases that could seriously affect them.”
He said he has some modest savings, but he lost his health insurance. Meanwhile, his mother’s work hours were also cut.
“It’s kind of getting hit with a lot of stuff at once,” Fowler said.
Fowler is one of millions of service workers around the world who find themselves out of work as businesses close to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Locally, restaurants and retail businesses have shuttered their doors — or at least scaled back their operations to drive-thru and carryout only — to comply with metrowide orders. But their efforts have come at a cost.
Some restaurants briefly tried curbside carryout but found they were losing money and shut down.
Some that still operate takeout businesses are trying to spread tip money among their dozens of out-of-work servers.
And those servers say they are making each other meals or sending a bit of money, hoping no one goes hungry.
The National Restaurant Association on Thursday reported that 3 million workers in the industry have already lost their jobs. The group predicts as many as 7 million U.S. jobs could be lost over the next three months as restaurant sales plummet by as much as $225 billion. The trade group predicts 3% of U.S. restaurants have already permanently closed since the virus took hold, with another 11% expected to soon follow.
Experts say any hit to the industry — where paychecks are considerably lower than the average — will have dire consequences.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said in an interview last week that he had significant concerns about the economic fallout from coronavirus, but he was “terrified” by the health effects it will have on poor Kansas Citians, noting that “viruses may not see color” but inequitable systems may allow it to spread disproportionately in disadvantaged areas of Kansas City.
Lucas said he has seen the city and the country go through periods of economic distress and bounce back.
“I have even greater concern, however, with what can be an amazing health crisis that we face — and one that will disproportionately impact our poorest, and as mayor, I think my job is to look out for them, and I think that’s where our focus is going to be.”
Mass layoffs
Unemployment claims have skyrocketed since social-distancing efforts and stay-at-home orders went into effect in communities across the U.S. Kansas claims skyrocketed by more than 1,200% — or 24,000 new claims — during the week ending March 21. That included more than 7,100 workers in the food and accommodations sector, accounting for about 33% of the claims.
Kansas Labor Secretary Delía García said hourly restaurant workers will be hit especially hard. Her family owns a restaurant in Wichita, which closed last week, she said.
“Obviously, it’s going to affect them a little bit more directly,” she said. “I understand this space very well.”
Missouri officials declined to say how many service workers were affected in the Show-Me state, which reported more than 42,000 new unemployment claims for the week ending March 21. That was an increase of more than 961% from the week before.
In a letter to federal officials seeking billions in public support, Sean Kennedy, the restaurant association’s executive vice president of public affairs, said restaurants have pivoted to providing curbside pickup, delivery and carryout orders to help slow the spread of the virus.
“But we are facing economic headwinds that will lead many restaurants to shut down operations, lay off workers, and end our service in our communities,” Kennedy’s letter said.
Restaurant layoffs have largely hit hourly workers who earn the least, said Bill Teel, president of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Missouri Restaurant Association. He said he spoke to several restaurateurs Wednesday who reported they had laid off as much as 80% or 90% of their staffs. Most restaurants were trying to hang onto management while laying off hourly workers who could collect unemployment benefits.
Many restaurants have tried to support their out-of-work crews but don’t have the cash on hand to make up all their lost wages.
“They don’t have deep pockets like some of the big restaurant chains might have,” Teel said. “They don’t have the flexibility to say, ‘Oh, let’s keep everybody going for two or three weeks and we’ll see where we are.’ They have to make immediate decisions.”
Kansas City created — at Lucas’ suggestion — a $500,000 emergency relief fund for businesses harmed by the economic fallout from the virus, but he said Missouri law bars cities from providing direct monetary relief to individuals and that “stupid laws create stupid results.”
“We can pay to fix up your house; we can pay to support your business; we can give incentives to your development,” Lucas said, “but we are limited under state law in our ability to actually provide checks to individuals. And I think that is incredibly frustrating.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office did not return a request for comment.
The wider impact
Layoffs at restaurants hit an already-vulnerable population, said Jose Mustre-del-Río, research and policy officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
2018 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics survey showed most wages of restaurant workers across the Kansas City metro area lagged other industries. The federal agency estimated that fast-food cooks earned a median hourly wage of $9.61. Bartenders: $9.31. Restaurant cooks: $13.05.
The metro’s median wage for all jobs at that time was $18.88.
“A general feature of our economy is that relatively secure and high-paying jobs are the ones most often easily transferred to remote locations, while already-insecure and relatively low-paying jobs are overwhelmingly less suited to remote deliver,” Mustre-del-Río, together with researchers at Federal Reserve banks in St. Louis and Richmond, Virginia, wrote in a recent report on employment vulnerability during the pandemic.
State unemployment benefits can help. But they only replace a portion of what workers made in wages. In Kansas, the maximum weekly benefit is $488, though low-wage workers would receive less. In Missouri, the cap is $320 per week, though Congress just passed a stimulus bill that hikes weekly unemployment benefits by $600 over four months.
Employees in the food and accommodation sector make up 10 percent of the national workforce.
While workers might go into debt or face home foreclosure, widespread restaurant layoffs will likely ripple through the economy, Mustre-del-Río said. Those workers generally spend most of their income.
“Think about if these people stop buying cars or buying houses, then it could have second- and third-hand effects,” he said. “Overall it’s really unclear. But at an individual level, it’s going to become increasingly clear that these individuals are going to have to cut back on their consumption or make other drastic decisions like racking up their credit card bills.”
An industry ravaged
Restaurants were hit hard March 16 when officials announced that dine-in service was prohibited. Next came the stay-at-home orders that took effect Tuesday, saying residents could venture out only for essential reasons. Grocery stores were packed. Not restaurants.
At Michael Forbes, a bar and grill in Brookside, managers tried to pivot to curbside takeout, but it wasn’t working out.
“Crunching numbers and stuff, we had a big menu anyway and the revenue generated probably wouldn’t cover the costs,” said Jay Fry, the bar manager there.
A veteran of the restaurant industry, Fry said some restaurants may get by with curbside, depending on how long the pandemic lasts.
“For the vast majority, it’s not sustainable,” Fry said. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think there’s a lot of business in it.”
Several other restaurants have also abandoned carryout service and shut their doors entirely — although few have announced permanent closures.
Managers at Michael Forbes decided Tuesday to give away about 500 chicken dinners to anyone who wanted them. They didn’t want to freeze the food or watch it perish. Now the restaurant is closed, and Fry and his co-workers are out of work.
“We don’t know when we are going to reopen,” Fry said “The city says it’s going to be at least a month, but my gut feeling says it’s probably going to be two.”
Fry’s wife used to fill in occasionally at Michael Forbes but stays at home with the couple’s five children.
“Personally, our family, we’re very lucky, we’re not going to starve,” Fry said. “If worst comes to worst, we have a great safety net with friends and family. There are a lot of people who don’t, through no fault of their own.”
‘A lot of solidarity’
With restaurant workers increasingly being sent home, many in the community — oftentimes restaurant owners themselves — have rolled out ways to help.
Restaurants including Char Bar, Lidia’s Kansas City, Novel and Waldo Thai Place have used up some of their inventory to prepare free meals for servers who have lost hours or their jobs.
Summit Restaurant Group, which operates Summit Grill, Boru Ramen and South of Summit Taqueria & Tequila, created an employee fund. All the donations, as well as all gratuities from curbside takeout services, will go to its team members. Owners Andy Lock and Domhnall Molloy have already kicked off the fund with a personal donation of $20,000.
Boulevard Brewing Co. offered a free care package — a case of beer — to 200 service industry workers out of jobs now.
“It’s beer, beer is what we make and beer is what we have to offer. We are in it with them, too,” said Amber Ayers, director of tours and recreation for Boulevard. “We just wanted to spread a little joy in the way that we can.”
Al Cousineau, 30, and fellow restaurant servers have spent the days since they were laid off checking in with one another on video conference calls, collectively navigating the unemployment application process, making and sharing meals and performing community work.
“There’s been a lot of solidarity, people giving food to each other, Venmoing each other like $20 so you can get something to eat,” said Cousineau, who was a server at Mission Taco Joint in the East Crossroads.
“Since we’re laid off, we might as well get to work.”
Mission Taco co-owner Adam Tilford said in a statement the company had to temporarily lay off 80 hourly workers in Kansas City, but has been offering them free food from its South Plaza location and using tips collected from its to-go orders for the out-of-work staff.
“There’s no easy way to navigate these changes,” Tilford said, “but we are confident that we will come out on the other side of this stronger than ever, hopefully with those employees by our side.”
Cousineau isn’t resentful and believes the shutdowns were the right call to distance Kansas Citians and slow the spread of the virus. The community has stepped up to help. But in the meantime, Cousineau is worried about making rent.
“My friend had a dollar in his bank account,” Cousineau said. “People need to eat. We don’t have a rent holiday here.”
